Moroccan Couple Near Montpellier Sentenced for Labor Exploitation and Immigration Offenses

The criminal court sentenced a 54-year-old Moroccan man to two years in prison with a suspended sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros. His Moroccan wife also received one year with a suspended sentence and a fine of 5,000 euros. The couple is required to jointly pay a fine of 99,000 euros to the Mutualité sociale agricole - MSA - for unpaid contributions and to compensate three of the four victims in the amounts of 39,923 euros, 49,200 euros and 23,700 euros for damages and moral prejudice, for a total of 230,000 euros, reports Actu.fr. The couple is accused of having exploited agricultural workers, through an illegal pipeline dismantled in 2021 by the Office for the Fight against Illegal Work of Migrants, the Oltim.

It all started with four complaints and surveillance of a property located in the commune of Grabels, where the defendants owned a secondary residence. The couple is accused of having brought about twenty Moroccans to France between 2018 and 2021. The recruitment takes place in a particular way: the fifty-year-old approaches his compatriots in his hometown in Morocco and has them sign employment contracts in exchange for 12,000 to 15,000 euros. He then went to pick them up on their arrival at Montpellier airport, before housing them in this house and making them available to market gardeners in the Vaucluse. He entrusted the administrative part to his wife.

The investigation into this case proved fruitful: in 2021, seven market gardeners from Cavaillon, in the Vaucluse, were taken into custody. They are accused of having helped these Moroccan nationals at the request of this couple from Hérault. However, they disputed having received funds in exchange. Only one person - the manager of this Cavaillon estate - will benefit from an acquittal.